Thursday, 31 January 2013

It was me personally who reviewed Echotape's double A-side single 'Spinning'/'Awakening' back in September, and I admitted surprise that record label mogul Seymour Stein was such a fan of the band. I also questioned their direction. 'Awakening' didn't impress, it was generic indie of the kind that the world is sadly crawling with. Overproduced and lacking substance. 'Spinning' on the other hand, was a total triumph, a pumping psychedelic monster loaded with promise. I summed up this offering by stating that it would be the subsequent releases that showed us what Echotape were really made of.

Having one new song hardly makes it crunch time, that will be when the album arrives, but new single 'Far From Heaven' gives us a better idea, and thankfully it's a winner. This is still commercial indie music, it still wants to sell loads and fill arenas but it does so with some gusto. It's not quite as mighty as 'Spinning' but it's on the right path. These guys are giving it their all here and it feels like it, this isn't a weak facsimile of stadium indie, this has the potential to reach that level on its own merits. Fans of lo-fi need not listen to the track below, fans of grand ambition and music with balls should give it a go.

Back home in Australia Snakadaktal are reasonably well known, particularly on the indie circuit, but this double A-side single on London label Young & Lost Club will be their first official UK release, following free download 'Chimera' (included below). So that means us Brits get to see just why this quintet were crowned winners of triple J's 'Unearthed' competition for 2011. And to be honest that reason isn't immediately apparent, none of the tracks here are songs you can fall in love with right away, so repeat plays are advised before you can fully grasp their sound, not that it's overly obscure or complex, that's just the way it works sometimes.

'Dance Bear' is the most immediate, combining beats from chillwave and vocals from the lighter side of trip-hop, they converge with more established indie sounds to make lively dreampop, a bit like jj if they were fed performance enhancing drugs before hitting the studio. After a handful of spins you understand the hype. 'Air' is a little trickier to grasp, partly down to the lower tempo and more hushed sound. With this comes added emotion though, thanks to the soft vocals and the fact that everything seems to be toned down at least a couple of notches. There's still magic to be found, you just have to dig a little deeper this time. 'Chimera' continues much in the same way as 'Air' left off and we have to say it's all rather lovely.

Now if an EP called 'Stop Before The Dry River' by a band called My Grey Horse doesn't sound like it's going to be Americana/alt-country then I don't know what does. Mind you, this likelihood is downgraded with the discovery that they're actually from Stratford-Upon-Avon. Warwickshire is a long way from Arizona, but that hasn't stopped others in the past. In reality there is just a pinch of US acoustic/semi-acoustic rock to be found on this new EP, but just as much from the UK's alt-folk and indie scenes. It's still "proper" music made with real instruments and all that, so I guess a common ground is shared.

A nice variety is found in this quartet of songs too. Single 'Need Wood' is, as you may expect, the most upbeat and nicely fits the description of uptempo alternative rock; it's a good track. Perhaps 'Big Night' is better, and certainly another single contender, as they play around with the structure a little more and even add some electronics. The result is less routine and adds identity to a band making similar music to so many others. They opt for heavier use of electric guitar on 'Last Chance' and while it's as close as they come to generic British indie it's still a worthwhile listen. That lyrically dark acoustic number you were always expecting appears at the end. 'Catch Up' is a well written track so any fears of regular singer-songwriter fodder can be discarded and a decent EP is completed in a suitable fashion.

This won't be the first time we've sung the praises of the adaptable US singer-songwriter Jesca Hoop, she's a lady who can seemingly turn her capable hands to a variety of styles with apparent ease. Cheeky pop single 'Hospital (Win Your Love)' showed that she has the credentials to become a fully fledged pop superstar if she were to strip away the alternative edge. It's that alternative edge that makes her such an enticing prospect though, plus she's not exactly doing bad for herself as it is, with recent album 'The House That Jack Built' picking up a few plaudits and plenty of new fans and a UK tour in support of cult heroes I Am Kloot.

New single, and appropriately British-referencing 'Ode To Banksy' is a tribute to the UK's foremost graffiti artist and will be released on March 4th. The song is again inches away from being a killer pop chart-buster, but the good news is that yet again Jesca Hoop retains the left-field stance and remembers where she came from and who she is. The lack of pretense or compromise is commendable, as scratchy guitars and a full-throttle bassline do battle with her very easy on the ear vocals. One day, when the world fixes itself and all wrongs are righted, it'll be this kind of pop that becomes omnipresent.

It's interesting just what impact visuals can have on a song. Personally I've never been a huge fan of the music video as it can take some of your personal imagery/connection away from the track, or simply make you think of the video each time you hear the tune. The same goes for songs in film soundtracks. Do you know how much I HATE the fact that whenever I play 'Be My Baby' by The Ronettes (one of the greatest songs ever recorded) someone always pipes up with "oh I love 'Dirty Dancing'!". Naff off! How has some 80s chick-flick managed to distort people's perception of such an outstanding piece of music. WRONG WRONG WRONG. But I Digress...

Upon hearing the rather fab 'Breakdown' by London duo Crushed Beaks (and knowing nothing about them previously) I was getting a slight reggae vibe, a chilled Caribbean thing going on. Watch the video and you've got a singer whose style icon appears to be Martin Fry from ABC and a video that's more 'Waiting For Godot' than 'One Love'; a messed up dream world where everything is dark and people routinely get slapped. So that's another notion shattered then. Still, top tune, and once you get used to it the video isn't bad either. Beats 'Dirty Dancing' any day.

Destined to be forever written in press as WTATDR, Leicester band We Three And The Death Rattle are appropriately named, especially as there are three of them and the form of punk rock that they make does have the dark shake of a death rattle to it, and we don't even know what a death rattle is. But put it this way, along with the sharp riff and clattering drums, as soon as new single 'Inpatients' gets to the chorus there is some kind of mysterious shimmying sound. We can only assume this is what they mean. This isn't spit and fury punk, WTATDR are a little classier than that.

To our delight they're also a bit less routine than initial impressions may suggest. Sure this is a basic punk track from the start, albeit a very good one, but just keep an ear on the song as it progresses. Effects come and go, none of them shouting "look at us being all innovative!", it's all done quietly in the background, giving that extra boost to the song without bragging about it. Towards the end we almost end up with psychedelic punk and it sounds great, like a female-fronted MC5 if they stripped the metal aspect away and concentrated on the garage side of things. Nicely done.

When it comes to the title of the album, the old Ronseal cliche fits like a glove; when it comes to the band name it's a different matter. Á La Punk is neither French nor a punk, he's a bloke from London called Danny who crafts DIY pop tunes to a very high standard. So these are home recordings and from what we can tell all the music and production etc. is the work of one man. There is history; Danny states that he's been involved with a band before who got to a decent level before label and management problems stopped them in their tracks without the project properly getting off the ground. So the recordings might be amateur in place of origin but not in terms of writing and general musical understanding.

A marriage of electronic glitches, synths, guitars and beats, 'Bedroom Tapes: Volume 1' is engaging from the off. 'Fuzzy' is simply a great alternative pop track in the vein of Super Furry Animals. Resting on laurels would be the option of choice for many from here on in, either that or more of the same due to lack of ideas, but Á La Punk doesn't stay in one place. He knows how to play several instruments and he enjoys different styles of music, so he makes use of both of these aspects. The album doesn't flit aimlessly and messily between genres, it's coherent and clearly all the work of the same musical mind. In short, he may not stick to a formula but the songs gel.

The odd catchy hook doesn't go amiss, and great examples can be found on 'Bring In The Guns' and 'Beat Damage'. There's a bleaker side to the album too, but a full wall of sound/fuzz is maintained at all times, as on the piano-led 'Insomnia Of The Soul' which is smothered in buzzing electronics, or the choppy bests and cluttered sounds of the downbeat 'Billboards'. He can do disturbed too; you may expect 'Brown' to be about drugs (especially as it precedes the song 'Soft Drugs') but it mentions murder instead before going a little bit country. 'Soft Drug' itself is gorgeous, defiant and finds hope in the face of despair, then the darkness returns on 'Sunshine Black' with it's lyrics about homicide and Prozac. If all DIY pop was up to this standard the internet would be a much nicer place to be.

Wednesday, 30 January 2013

Upon first hearing the news that former Moldy Peach man Adam Green was teaming up with Bikini Shapiro, the singer with Strokes side-project Little Joy we were intrigued. Very intrigued in fact. Could the former madcap anti-folk hero and his new muse create some music of substance or would it be silly buggering about like that which Green has been known to dabble with in the past? We got our answer, or part of it at least, with debut single and free download 'Here I Am' which was classic sounding vintage pop. They set the bar high. Their eponymous album is now available and the reviews have been pretty good, although we've yet to hear it in full.

New single 'Just To Make Me Feel Good' is even better than the first, we'd maybe go as far as to call it one of the best singles of the year so far (yeah yeah, it's only January). The style and the combination of voices reminds us of two classic male/female vocal pairings, both of whom have mixed pop, soul and a hint of psychedelia. The first being Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood (everyone seems to be trying to sound like Nancy at the moment) and the second being the more recent Faris Badwan and Rachel Zeffira collaboration Cat's Eyes. This pair are establishing themselves among some very high calibre partnerships, it could be a match made in heaven after all.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that, after putting the needle on the vinyl or pressing play on the CD/iPod/preferred listening method, that you'd been given a blank record with this one. There are several seconds of silence that begin opening track 'Crepuscule', before the faint outline of a mirage of a song begins to appear. There's no sign here of the overloaded compression that's blighted popular music for the past couple of decades (Oasis' '...Morning Glory' album is often cited as an example of using studio techniques to make music louder, digital file formats have only increased this), it feels natural and very very subtle. People with an aversion to ambient music should probably look away now.

Much of Oh/Ex/Oh's music on this album follows a similar pattern; these are delicate, drawn-out pieces, designed to give hypnotic qualities as opposed to being radio-friendly unit-shifters. If you were to take The Orb's classic 'Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld' album and slow it down, massage it until it's relaxed and slip a Valium into its drink it may end up sounding a little like 'Extant'. To some folk these waves of mild noise will seem almost devoid of any value, to others this will be meditative bliss. There's also an unusual dreamlike quality to be found, something we say about a lot of records, but this is done in a different way. When you get the shock of a booming voice talking to you at the end of 'The Holy Fallout' it really is like one of those scenes in a film where the clouds part and God delivers his words.

The lack of variation can be a bit off-putting at some points; 'STS-115' for example, goes nowhere and does nothing, but as long as you know what to expect you can reap the rewards of this album. It will have a niche audience for sure but will be cherished by those lucky few to whom these sounds resonate the most. 'The Last Days' is as blissfully peaceful as music can be and you can get lost in its constant haze. If you really can't stomach the thought of an album as chilled as this, try the excellent slowed-down krautrock of 'Close Encounters', possibly the album's best entry point for ambient newcomers, or maybe 'The Resonator' where we're treated to some futuristic spoken-word lyrics. 'Extant' shouldn't really be thought of as a wishy-washy set of soundscapes, the general feeling is that of a drone-rock supernova, a cosmic place where these atmospheric sounds go for one final burst of light before they burn out completely.

Now it's a big old place is London. Yet how often do you hear of a band who are based in Battersea? The only musical connection we can think of is that Pink Floyd album cover, although apparently there's a new artistic commune situated there (that all sounds very hippyish, but it's probably not, it's more likely making use of a long deserted building, maybe with the aid of some grant funding, but we're just guessing). The first musical fruits we've heard from this new location come to us from Great Heat, a quartet who are on the verge of releasing their first single.

That single, 'Laid Bare' has a sound that stretches back through generations of British guitar bands, right back to the 1960s. You can hear the tail-end of the beat group movement as they turned to blues and psychedelia to spread their musical horizons; you can hear the simplistic concentrate-on-the-tune aesthetic of punk, there's no showing-off or needless musical additions; and you can also hear the 90s guitar revival. We won't call it Britpop because it's not that sound. There's a tinge of psychedelia and a touch of garage-rock, all adding up to a song that continues the UK's long history of gangs of guys making tunes with guitars.

From their Brighton base, The Dancers took to the road for much of 2012, part of that time was spent supporting hit and miss indie types The Subways. Not a bad move as, although they may not be enjoying their early success anymore, they'll still bring in a crowd and hopefully a few will have left with their minds set on seeking out some tunes from The Dancers, who on the strength of what we've heard so far are in a better position musically than their tour buddies. An EP and a single were also released towards the end of the year and now they're gearing up for their first worldwide single release, 'For Something In Your Eyes', due on February 19th.

Taking a basic indie/rock starting point, The Dancers liven things up and add layers of colour by using more exotic rhythms and instruments. It's like Vampire Weekend only more fun and less preppy. 'For Something In Your Eyes' should stand them in good stead, it's a lively and hook-filled pop song with enough personality to leave a mark. Maybe the closest comparison we can think of is to Little Comets, it has that similar summery feel. Releasing a single now may indicate that a possible EP or even an album could be planned for summer, and if so the timing will be perfect. The Dancers would sound twice as good in the sun and will surely be a hit at the festivals.

The full video for the single will be unveiled on February 19th, until then here's previous track 'Seagulls'.

With any drug-inflicted public meltdowns now seemingly behind him, Wavves main man Nathan Williams is back on top form musically, with early signs indicating that new album 'Afraid Of Heights' (due out on March 26th) could be his most coherent, tuneful and simply best yet. There's still a geeky element to the band's sound, they haven't totally grown-up, and nor would we want them to. The love of noise is still apparent which will be music to fans of the earlier lo-fi din that they captured on some recordings. Williams isn't hanging up the effects pedals and building himself a deluxe pine studio just yet.

Two tracks from the forthcoming record are available to stream and both take the better end of grunge, keep plenty of melody there but still refuse to give in to maturity. 'Sail To The Sun', as we've already heard, hammers along like its been injected with nitrous oxide but at no point feels like it could fall apart. This is controlled chaos, the kind that comes with knowing where you're heading. 'Demon To Lean On' takes this further, it's piled high with slacker vibes and guitars being tortured, but underneath is a big pop hit. It could be that Wavves have hit the perfect middle ground between being unreliable no-wave noise-merchants and dorky, off-kilter pop punks. Perhaps this is exactly what's needed to keep the wheels on and the band on the road.

It's that mysterious pull of Berlin again. This time luring people to the west rather than to the east. Four Phonica are made up of members from two successful Ukrainian acts (Sexinspace and Marakesh) who've joined forces for this new project. 'Divine' is a fitting name for this single, it's simply superb and emotion-packed industrial electro-pop. Very very good.

No, nothing to do with the failed Britpop revivalists, this Brøthers are a new band who aren't very keen on giving any information away. They say they've played in other bands before, they say they will have an album out this year and we think 'We Are Pushing On' is their debut single. We're still in electro-pop territory here, but this enigmatic track is of a much sunnier disposition.

We have to confess we're not familiar with the work of the band Code Pie, but some of their members have recently begun a new musical venture under the name of Warmly and have just put out their debut three-track EP as a free download. It's mighty fine so you should hit the link below and get the lot, starting with the beautiful, experimental dreampop of 'Monster' which is a little stunner.

'Three Kingdoms' is the second single to be released from the upcoming album by Chicago indie/synth experimentalists Love and Radiation and follows on from the ace 'Ganymede'. This one could be even better, pushing the tempo up and mixing in some 80s vibes yet sounding resolutely modern. Yeah it's only two tracks so far, but if they have more of the same the album could be a blinder.

Brooklyn band The Eggs have just put out a very impressive EP which is freely available to download (check the link below). It was a tough call as their brand of string-laden indie/prog is quite distinctive and shows a band creating music that's seemingly free from outside expectations. In the end we decided upon the superb 'Disintegrate' which sums them up perfectly.

Tuesday, 29 January 2013

We've been banging on about the proliferation of duos bursting onto the new music scene of late, particularly in America. So let us introduce you to LA pair PYYRAMIDS who are currently sorting schedules and making the final preparations for the launch of their debut album 'Brightest Darkest Day' on April 15, along with the UK tour they have planned to coincide with it. Now if you know your alternative music then you might just recognise the two faces in that photo there, for although PYYRAMIDS is a new project, Drea Smith may be known to some for her work with electro-pop outfit He Say/She Say, and Tim Nordwind you will all have seen pissing about on treadmills with his other band OK Go, minus the bushy facial growth. So internationally renowned indie band meets electro-pop goddess then, and the results are a perfect marriage of the two worlds.

Smith's sultry vocals take the lead over some dirty, distorted bass and guitar on impressive new track 'Do You Think You're Enough?' which takes indie-rock as a canvas to fling around some different ideas on. You can pick out elements of rock, dub, blues, soul, electro and even hip-hop; it's a real anything-goes approach with the firm intent of ending up with a solid tune at the end of it all. 'Don't Go' could be a cover of something from Tricky's 'Maxinquaye' album, and that's a definite compliment. The mysterious dark clouds of 'Smoke & Mirrors' also recall Bristol's trip-hop scene with their genre-mashing ideas. It'll be fun to play "spot the references" when reviews of the album begin to appear, PYYRAMIDS could be harder to pin down than a paper bag in a hurricane.

London band Ivory Seas can count themselves lucky in some respects. The band was formed gradually as more musicians became friends and jamming sessions began to take place, which is all very common and natural. However, showing just a hint of ambition they decided to try and seek out producer Richard Formby (the man who produced Wild Beasts' Mercury nominated album). This won't be the first time a new and unknown band has chased a big name, nor is it likely to be the first time that Richard Formby has been sent some demos with a polite letter asking if he'd like to, y'know, come and produce the songs or something.

However they managed it, Ivory Seas won the musical lottery and somehow ended up with Mr Formby producing (and also getting writing credits) on their debut single. No mean feat, and we doff our proverbial caps to Ivory Seas for making this happen. The result is typically wonderful sounding, and yes, you can hear a bit of Wild Beasts about 'Still Brooding', and this is a good thing. The quartet are no copyists though, and the song, although not the most original piece in the world, does have its own personality and having already caught the ear of one major player, the signs are that they may have some more nuggets in stock. Plus with the luck they've had so far, maybe a letter to Mr Eavis about that Sunday night Pyramid Stage slot could be a good next step...

Having spent a fair bit of time in the "rain-choked west of Ireland" myself I know just how ingrained music is to the culture there. So learning that Julie Hawk began playing piano aged five, followed by fiddle and guitar, not to mention honing those vocal chords, comes as no surprise at all. This self-titled EP doesn't draw heavily on traditional Irish music, it's more a blend of folk and traditional pop from around the British Isles that she's used to craft her own songs. Single 'The Value Of Gold', as a folk-pop song, is almost impossible to fault, although if this kind of thing isn't your cup of tea then you're unlikely to be converted. Hawk has a delicate voice that emanates from some very strong vocal chords. The result is, somewhat paradoxically, very powerful and very gentle at the same time. It's the vocal that takes charge too; the temptation is always there with this variety of music to hide it a little deeper in the mix. It's good that this approach wasn't taken.

Other near-faultless performances come in 'Maps' and the magical 'The West', and it's difficult to see what you could do to the songs to make them sound better without completely overhauling the genre for something else. 'Age In Years' is a highlight, pumping the sound up a notch, almost to folk-rock territory. The final track is a cover of 'This Charming Man' by The Smiths. We were kind of hoping for something akin to The Sundays here, but what we get is really no different from all the other acoustic renditions of songs doing the rounds in TV commercial land (see also 'Sweet Child Of Mine', 'Never Tear Us Apart, 'Please, Please, Please Let me Get What I Want' and so on) which renders it a bit underwhelming and unnecessary. Her own songs though, will be a delight for fans of sweetly sung acoustics.

Are Wampire cynically trying to cash-in on the universal obsession that the world's teenagers have with vampires by having a name that's almost the same, or did they just hear a young child try to say "vampire" in a cute way and decide on that like a big couple of softies? Whichever (and to be honest, probably neither), they're part of the amazing alternative music scene in Portland, Oregon, which is as good a place to be as any right now. Providing you're any good of course, there's a lot of talent jostling for space there. Whether they can barge their way through we'll know for sure come May when they release their debut album 'Curiosity'.

For now though, they're getting set to put out 'The Hearse' as a 7" single on March 5th. Much of the recording process for this and the rest of the album came from fragments that the duo put together in the studio from last summer, twisting and welding them into fully-fledged songs, with some material being made up on the spot. It's a method that's paid dividends here at least, 'The Hearse' does sound like a few ideas put together to form a whole song, and one that resonates with a new-wave groove and DIY sound before breaking down into a slowed, psychedelic mid-section and spooky build back up to the retro beats that began the song. Hold the hearse for now, there are plenty of signs of life here.

Love & Fist, two words that go together... um, sometimes. But in this instance probably not in that sense. This new EP by the Austrian band is about leaving one place for another, about returning home and the mixed emotions that such circumstances can create. Things begin with the sense of not fitting your current location, being in the wrong place and realising it, all to an enticing indiepop backing; it's a classic alternative guitar tune that boasts a nice chorus and addictive qualities. Any such bombast is stripped away on the countryish, twanging 'My Hometown'. What begins like a bluesy paean to home ends up sounding like the Vaccines when they go all sentimental, like on 'Wetsuit' or 'Aftershave Ocean'.

It's two very opposite sides of the same coin and you wonder which will prevail. Both songs aren't exactly lacking in the quality department, but the puzzle of the story begins to engage you further. 'Behind The Times' doesn't exactly make the move sound like a success with its desolate lyrics and talk of nobody being there. At the same time it's strangely romantic with it. Like watching a feature film, you get the sense that all will end well. Once this ballad is over and before the credits roll we get our answer. 'Say Goodbye' is sentimental but plans on deserting memories, forgetting the past and future and concentrating on the now; "it'll be alright" is sung atop emotional backing that's part sad and part hopeful, yet we may never know exactly how the tale ends. But still, it's been... emotional.

Post-rock. A bit like metal and hip-hop, it's one of those genres you're either going to love or hate, particularly in its pure form as found here. The ray of hope for people who prefer stuff like tunes and all that jazz, is that post-rock can occasionally burst open and soar with no small amount of majesty. Getting through a whole album, though? That's the reserve of the post-rock connoisseur, and it's likely that 'Mémoire' will have its appeal limited to that particular crowd. How Comes The Constellations Shine recorded this series of tracks between 2006 and 2010, but the Portuguese band are only letting them see the light of day now, and this record is entirely instrumental.

The test begins right away. First track 'Overture' is ten-and-a-half minutes long and employs every trick in the post-rock manual. Like this and you'll love the album; if it leaves you cold then look elsewhere. 'Overture' is almost like a checklist, it's almost as if they're interviewing you for a job; if you can get through this gateway the album is yours. There's the very slow build up, the sudden noisy guitars and cymbal crashes that go on forever, the loud/quiet dynamic is used a fair bit, the pace and atmosphere change with the sudden introduction of a throbbing bass and eventually... a tune! The drums kick in, the guitars rev up, they aim for the sky and add some tempo. This is post-rock in a nutshell.

All the tracks which follow employ the same or similar techniques and the results will depend on personal taste, but here's a quick summary. More ambient pieces for people well versed in this type of thing: the Sigur Ros-ish 'Alaska', the incredibly gentle 'Black Hair' and the slow-burning 'Motherfucker'. Tracks that are likely to have a wider appeal: the experimental 'School Days', the dreampoppy shimmer of 'She's Blonde And She Says Uau A Lot' (?) with its epic ending, the quivering 'The Wind Will Carry Us' and the pleasant 'On Rascals' as well as finale 'Western Media Avenue'. The slow-burning 'Shattered Glass' sits somewhere in between, however if you skip the first half it's quite something. If this all seems a bit simplified then it's because it's very difficult to go into heavy detail about an album of this kind without writing an essay, however, an in-depth track by track guide from the band can be found here.

Monday, 28 January 2013

It seems like only a few weeks ago that Australian duo Au.Ra were in their infancy, a very promising one at that and... hang on, it was! We featured their first track, the free download 'Sun' at the start of December and their second, 'Jane's Lament', exactly a month ago. This pair from Sydney have bypassed even the stage of learning to walk before you can crawl, they've literally hit the ground running. Now we get their first proper release which is being put out by Art Is Hard Records in an interesting new format: the postcard. That's right, Au' Ra's new single is being released as a postcard, but if your postcard player is on the blink then don't worry because they'll chuck in a download with it.

Jokes aside, it is nice to get a bit of product for your money, and realistically most people who buy something on vinyl will just download the MP3 and play it digitally anyway, so this seems like a good idea to us. The song is their best so far too. Whether they've just been teasing us with a pair of very accomplished free tunes to lure us in we'll find out sooner or later. But 'Morning' feels like a leap forward, It still sounds like sunshine, it's a drone but a melodic one, the vocals are smothered, dreamlike in the production and everything gives of the warm glow of distortion. We can't wait to see what they surprise us with next.

Any dictionary or thesaurus of words suitable for describing the music made by groups who favour the acoustic approach and like their instruments to be made of wood and preferably hollow was exhausted about a year and a half ago. So does this mean that the well of creativity that such bands drink from is similarly dry? Well it's difficult to knock the pedigree of seven-piece collective The Mariner's Children, they consist of members of, or players with Laura Marling, Alessi's Ark, Eyes & No Eyes, Sons Of Noel and Adrian and Peggy Sue, so they should know a thing or two about making this kind of stuff. And this second EP shows that indeed they do.

As has been the case with some of the best nu-folk (can we still use that term?) groups of the past year or so, the 'Sycamore' EP works well as it's an exercise in restraint. As is often the case, it would be all too easy to smother these tracks, to go for grand arrangements and stadium-folk techniques. The Mariner's Children keep it about the songs and when it comes to quality it's difficult to split them, although 'In My Bed' stands out for taking, ironically, a slightly bigger sounding approach. The other three tracks are all well made and will be music to the ears of anyone who's caught the acoustic bug that refuses to disappear. You do wonder though, good as they are, how many more bands like this can the music world take before a backlash of seismic proportions begins?

As promised with their recent single 'England's Coldest Waves', West-Yorkshire trio Hearts & Souls have given us their debut EP which is free to download from SoundCloud but also very reasonably priced via their website on CD for anyone who finds digital music a bit cold. As we mentioned, the EP itself was looking like being a wintry and cold affair with that nighttime cover and the single's video being filmed on a chilly and windswept beach. We're possibly guilty of jumping to conclusions here though, because despite the release date and the imagery this EP glows warmly, just like the light emanating from those windows. 'England's Coldest Waves' is still the beautiful piece of descriptive indie/folk that it was a few weeks ago, but this is no one dimensional band.

Hearts & Souls never detour too far away from their natural sound, this could result in a mess; however 'Liquidlung' is part angry rock and part indiepop, still hanging on to their own personality and not relying on imitation. It's a powerful song with it, showing they're no weedy indie-folk types. They go even heavier on 'Airwaves' but those vocals and wonderful lyrical style ensure you'd never get them mixed up. Although musically we're some way from the opening track, it still sounds great. The ringing guitars of 'Death And Other Subjects' suggests further that the band want to venture down a variety of avenues, and highlight 'Western Avenue' follows suit. Another standout is found in 'Pulling Teeth', a track whose anger shows the ambition these guys have. As decent debut outings go, this certainly is one.

You will have noticed that over the past few weeks we've been getting decidedly excited about London synth-pop duo (or quartet live) Knocking Ghost who bowled us over with first track 'Independent Girl' and did more than enough with the other pair of songs they'd uploaded to earn themselves a place on our 'Sound Of 2013' tips list. Well now we feel incredibly privileged to give you the world exclusive first airing of their debut video 'Distractions' which is taken from the EP of the same name, available for free download from today. If 'Independent Girl' isn't etched into your brain by now then you need to get that sorted right away, and the band have correctly decided that this masterpiece should also be included on the EP along with 'The Beginning' and 'Interlude For The Midweek'.

Those songs should be familiar to you already, but 'Distractions' comes to us boxfresh and smelling of awesomeness. Another irresistibly up-tempo electro-pop cracker along the lines of 'Independent Girl' and a chorus that the world's biggest popstars employ teams of professional writers to come up with. This is how the new Delphic album should have sounded. The wintry video takes you on a journey from the bleak and picturesque countryside to the city and its rightful place at a party. Then our protagonist mysteriously decides to dart back to that scenic area of leafless trees. Of all the new electro-pop groups emerging this year Knocking Ghost stand tallest, and this is thanks to holding on to their alternative edge while embracing pop wholeheartedly and possessing the ability to put the two together into songs of such a high calibre. This might be brand-spanking new but we're already hungry for more.

It's a struggle to believe that it's been over a year since we last featuredBlaenavon on the site. But then time appears to go quicker as you get old, a notion that may not yet have been grasped by this Hampshire trio. It's always exciting when you find a teenage band as accomplished as this. The Beatles were discovered at a similar age, and look what happened there. But then so were The Music, a band who made some stellar singles before burning out, in part due to record label pressures, and never fulfilled their potential. That fact that Blaenavon have left it this long for a new release therefore, can only be good news. Allow the guys to do things at their own pace, they know what they're doing.

It's still a few weeks until this double A-side gets its proper release (March 11th) but thanks to the joys of the internet we can stream both songs now and get accustomed to them. Firstly, 'Into The Night' is a loose yet snappy jam, if you can imagine math-rock allowed to just chill out a bit then you've got it. It's a strong song and, as was probably the plan, the best of the two. For reference you can hear a bit of Foals, Interpol, The Maccabees and Frightened Rabbit. Really though it's their own sound through and through, but comparisons are perhaps inevitable with guitar-based bands. 'Denim Patches' does a blinding job of the steady-build technique, nicking some atmosphere from post-rock and pumping it into a mighty force for the ending. If they keep doing things on their own terms then Blaenavon could be a band to treasure.

As well as being the name of their new single, 'Lost In Light Rotation' will be the title of the first album in five years from Seattle indiepop heroes Tullycraft. Included is twee instrumentation, DIY aesthetics and more than one reference to cult Scottish band Bis. If one reference to a British band wasn't enough, the B-side is a cover of the Yazoo track 'Bad Connection'. Both, naturally, are ace.

Anyone who's been following the current crop of US alt-rock and Americana bands will surely know, and probably be a fan of, LA's Local Natives. This week they release their second album 'Hummingbird'. You can stream it below, but if you fancy a little something to stick on your iPod then their lush and epic recent single 'Breakers' is a free download from Amazon.

We've been following the build up to The Ruby Suns new album 'Christopher' (with its slightly creepy cover) for the past month or two, particularly enjoying single 'Kingfisher Call Me'. From today we can get our hands on a copy, but if you'd like another track to try before you buy then here's freebie and experimental indie-type tune 'In Real Life'

Neither actual Indians or even a band, this particular Indians is the project of a Copenhagen solo artist and this week he releases his album 'Something Else'. If you didn't know better you'd assume this to be the work of an American alt-country/folk/indie band, but like his countryman Kjartan Bue he's perfected this cosmic sound, nowhere more so than on gorgeous single 'Magic Kids'.

And so it is that The Flaming Lips will release their first "proper" album since 2009 in the first week of April. It will be called 'The Terror' and knowing this particular band what it will sound like is anyone's guess. What we do know is that new single 'Sun Blows Up Today' won't be on it, although if you pre-order the album you get an instant download of this as a bonus. Yeah it was written for a car ad that will be shown at the Superbowl, but it's not likely that The Flaming Lips will buy a villa in a tax haven somewhere with the cash, no they're more likely to wisely spend it on making their live shows even more mental, which can only be a good thing. Plus, how do you like your ads? With identikit, sweetly-voiced female singers doing tender acoustic versions of 80s pop/rock tracks like every other company uses? Or an insane, colourful, psychedelic pop smash with added weirdness and an insane synth breakdown in the middle? We know which we'd go for.

Sunday, 27 January 2013

We previously discussed the use of whale blubber as a source of fuel, concluding that it would burn quite well back when we reviewed US band Whale Fire's previous track 'Wild Eyed Mistake'. While this use may still be common in some arctic cultures, being all green and that we'll discuss it no more and certainly not advise testing its flammability out. Besides, we've got a brace of new songs from the Arkansas band to get listening to instead. A far more environmental and generally more pleasurable experience. This latest 7" single goes some way further to cementing their status among America's fine alternative rock scene.

'Dream Of Me' is a touch like The Kings Of Leon before they decided to be self-important stadium-rock ponces. It's gritty and romantic at the same time, a difficult combination to get right and a good example of how to do it. Maybe we're just awkward, but once again we're finding the B-side the biggest draw here. 'The Fabric' begins with distant reverberating guitars that are joined by a lead further forward in the mix. The melody is stronger too, with an anthemic quality. If it had been us we'd have been pushing this track with the thinking that it would bring wider coverage and a more immediate hit. But we've never sold a record (one made by us at least) in our lives, so what do we know.

The world is a more interesting place when things aren't as they seem. With the musical heritage Kandle Osborne was born in to, it's hardly surprising that first impressions can be stripped away with the apparent ease in which she manages to do so. This talent for breaking the norm is bred into her. Last year's debut EP was a powerful concoction of blues, soul, rock and much more, including deceivingly sinister lyrics. Her latest, 'Knew You'd Never', pulls off a similar trick. The song is vintage pop all the way; mixing Nancy Sinatra's darker songs with PJ Harvey's subtler songs, making for a familiar but no less impressive track; timeless is probably the best word.

Take a more in depth look at the lyrics which seem to tell the tale of a failed stalker. Is it him/her that's in the wrong or Kandle herself? "I know I'm never fair, I've seen you fall and all I did was stare." She seems cold and talks about not caring. Then there's the video in which she is depicted in classic 60s chic; cool as you like and too good for any man. Then look closer at the empty glasses strewn around the room, the smashed chocolates. She's curling her hair, nothing odd there. Look closer and you'll see that she's doing so using empty beer cans. Glass, bottles and vases of flowers are smashed. Classic pop or murder ballad? Probably both, and defiantly good. But be warned, Kandle is the kind of girl your mother warned you about.

The practice of overlapping genres is perhaps more prevalent now than ever before. This is undoubtedly due to having a stream of almost any song of any genre from any era and any place in the world at the click of a mouse button or the tap of a finger on a tablet. As we've mentioned before the whole concept of genres is now less like the seven colours of a rainbow and more like the paint colour sample catalogue you'd find at a DIY store. There are millions of different degrees and fusions. Norwegians Angelica's Elegy use several of these shades of sound to come up with their own musical colours. Maybe having the word "fuse" in the title was a subconscious way of showing this.

If you want a quick run through then let's call this dreampop, but with added power. Not quite rock, not quite pop, not quite shoegaze, not quite indie, but somewhere in between. Naturally having a song that spans such a wide range of scenes can work two ways; isolating fans of each by not quite fitting their agenda; or engulfing the lot and capturing them under a wide-ranging spell. This is down to the quality of the song and little else. Having given 'Fuse and a Spark' several plays I think we can safely say they'll be pulling in new admirers from all over the place.

The lead-up to putting out your debut album must be an exciting time for any band, unless they know they've made a stinker and caved into record company pressure for material of course. We're sure this isn't the case with County Donegal pair Constant Supply, a band who impressed us with the single 'Crystal' late last year. Like that song, the album, 'The Coast Ain't Clear' was produced by Villagers man Tommy McLaughlin, and although we previously mentioned that 'Crystal' was the first track from these sessions, we're not completely sure if it's made the final cut or not. Whatever the plans, it's 'Capo' that's being put forward as the record's first single.

What a choice it is. 'Crystal' was good for sure, but 'Capo' is indie-rock that takes them to the next level, not by producing masses of individuality or originality,but by that most important of all factors; by being a properly good song. It's more upbeat than its predecessor which will no doubt help with capturing the attention of people who may just catch it on some radio show somewhere one time, or maybe stumble upon a stream on an internet blog on their web-surfing voyages. There's a good attention to detail here too, so that helps with depth and will ensure that it's not one to enjoy for a couple of spins and disregard. We must say our hopes for the album have increased somewhat.

There's barely been a time in the last two or three years that Paul Cook & The Chronicles haven't had some sort of release available, be it singles, free downloads or last year's excellent debut album 'Volume 1'. We heard shortly after that record's release that 'Volume 2' was well on the way to being complete and ready to release, and now we get to hear the first song lifted from it; new single 'Ships Pass'. If you've already fallen for Paul Cook's incredibly pure voice, heart-on-sleeve lyrics and tales of love (or the lack thereof) then you'll instantly become attached to this single.

Made from the exact same ingredients that made his debut so lovable and human, even though his voice isn't exactly run of the mill and his tunes are hardly bog standard, 'Ships Pass' continues where 'Volume 1' left off. Once again we find him in a thoughtful and reflective mood, seeming to be digesting the latest failed relationship that has haunted his life but provided the inspiration for another classic sounding, sweetly sung and dripping with emotion track. Should Paul Cook "find someone" then we'll either lose the source of these amazing songs or he'll be turning out albums that give the cast of Glee a run for their money.